1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a compact sorter for a copy machine, and more particularly to a compact sorter including an improved slot liner and space controlling cams for controlling the spaces among the bin trays, thereby causing the bin to smoothly move along the slot liner.
2. Description of The Prior Art
Generally, there has been a known sorter for copy machine such as a sorter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,608 which included a vertical linear slot liner, as shown in FIG. 1. However, it has been noted that the sorter of such a type had a drawback that the bin tray 3 could not advance closer to the ejecting section of the copy machine so that the ejected copies from the ejecting section might not be securely received thereby, while there was no problem in upward and lowerward movement thereof along the slot liner.
There has been, therefore, proposed another type of sorter having a inclined slot liner as shown in FIG. 2 in order to solve the above-mentioned drawback. The sorter of this type comprised a slot liner formed as inclined at a portion overlapped by the transfer wheel 2, thereby solving the above-mentioned drawback that the bin tray 3 could not advance closer to the ejecting section of the copy machine by providing a capability of advancing in a distance lo to the ejecting section. However, it has been noted the sorter of this type had another disadvantage that each bin tray 3 including a L-shaped cam 66 mounted to a free outer end thereof as shown in FIG. 3 could not maintain an predetermined space with another lower tray during a movement thereof toward the ejecting section of the copy machine, while it was possible to secure a space with the upper tray, as shown in FIG. 2. That is to say, as a middle bin tray moved toward the ejecting section of the copy machine by upward sliding movement of the pins thereof, interlocking with the rotatable transfer wheel 2, along a rightward and upward inclined portion of the slot liner, another lower bin tray contacted therewith might drop downward so that the dropped tray might occur a interference with the copies, such as a jamming of the copies during receiving them.